Uniform literally means one form—then workplaces bend it
From Latin unus and forma, a uniform is costume marking organizational membership during activity—most famously military and police dress. Retail clerks, nurses, and factory crews wear corporate clothing too. The word misleads when employees look only partly alike or supply their own “branded” look.
Uniforms today belong above all to armed forces and to police, emergency services, security guards, schools, some workplaces and prison inmates. In some countries officials such as French prefects or officers of the US Public Health Service's Commissioned Corps wear them on duty, and for some bodies, police among them, outsiders may be breaking the law if they put one on.
Military uniforms moved over centuries from colourful and elaborate to utilitarian camouflage for the field. Standardised, distinctive dress for identification and display usually signals forces equipped by a central authority, and most militaries keep several types, from combat and service dress to full dress and mess dress. Hospitals use clothing to separate doctors, surgeons, nurses, support staff and volunteers; traditional nurses' outfits echo religious habits, and a stethoscope can act as a badge of office.
The list of uniformed workers is long, running from bank and post-office clerks and lifeguards to janitors, truck drivers, airline crews and hotel staff. Organisations use them for branding and a standard corporate image, and they affect how employees feel. Researchers Rafaeli and Pratt described two dimensions of work dress, how alike it is and how conspicuous: staff all in black stand out as a group though only their colour matches. They later framed disputes over dress as struggles over identity and treated clothing as part of an organisation's communication grammar.
Schools in Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and many other countries require uniforms. British secondary pupils aged 11 to 16 often wear a blazer with a crested pocket and a patterned school tie, while many state primary children wear a logo jumper or polo shirt.
Source: Uniform
